posted June 11, 2021 #
The name
Cody Uhler may not ring a bell for you immediately but if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, he's been mentioned in many different forms over the years. He's released multiple albums under the pseudonym
Nahnee Bori (if you've never heard "
External Recap," prepare for greatness), he's collaborated on every single
Uncle Skeleton record, he's partially responsible for the greatness that is
Kindercastle and he has helped craft all of the music for the series of DOTS mobile games. That last bit doesn't get mentioned too often because mixing day job credits with solo work can feel a bit exploitative but it contributes to the fact that Uhler is extremely adept at writing music, particularly in a videogame framework.
With the release of
Darbo's Island, his first album under his own name, he takes that experience to the next level. He spent a very long time studying the intricate restrictions of music made for systems like the Super Nintendo; very low sample rates and very few samples playing at once. Even within those restrictions, many of us have extremely fond memories of soundtracks for the likes of the Zelda, Kirby and Mario series.
The result of that study grew into
Darbo's Island; an album that somehow manages to simultaneously feel nostalgic and incredibly modern. It's an homage but it's also entirely original. It's not an easy balance to strike but he's, honestly, crafted a beautiful thing.
You can buy the album digitally
on Bandcamp or stream it
on your preferred service. If you were ever infatuated with video game soundtracks, I promise this is for you.
